


What Comes Next

by hrtiu



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: College-Age, F/M, Family, Growing Up, Guardian Gabriel Agreste, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Slow Burn, finding yourself after being controlled for a long time, how to be a parent when you've failed your child, i know it sounds super angsty, it's also going to be fun i think?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-04-23 22:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19159846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hrtiu/pseuds/hrtiu
Summary: They'd won, hadn't they? Hawk Moth—Gabriel Agreste—had been defeated, and he'd given up his mad quest, but somehow it doesn't feel like a victory. Adrien tries to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, and Marinette doesn't know how to help her friend. On top of all that, the Butterfly Miraculous is still missing. When everything changes, how do you decide what comes next?





	1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

 

They met in the ruins of the Agreste mansion. Marinette, Adrien, Master Fu, and Gabriel Agreste—all of the permanent holders of the miraculouses in the past decade. The mansion wasn’t actually in ruins, of course. The miraculous ladybugs had seen to it that the rubble was cleared away, the torn-up paintings repaired, and each and every piece of designer furniture restored to its carefully-designated place. Even so, each of the four humans felt the damage the place had sustained mere hours before weighing heavy on their minds.

They went to Adrien’s room, because it somehow felt safest, and Marinette and the two Agrestes found a seat on the couch while Master Fu sat on the ground in front of them. The old man set the heavy old-fashioned phonograph between them, and the phonograph filled the space of the cavernous room with its imposing presence.

“Any news of Nooroo?” Master Fu asked, finally breaking the oppressive silence.

Gabriel shook his head.

“No. I know… I’m almost certain that girl has him, but I can’t be sure.”

The day before was when everything changed. Ladybug and Cat Noir finally faced Hawk Moth in person, only to discover him to be Gabriel Agreste. Identities were revealed, motives exposed, tears shed, hearts broken. In the end, they defeated Gabriel, and Gabriel gave up his destructive and futile quest to undo the past. There was no time to celebrate their triumph, however, as the Butterfly Miraculous had somehow disappeared in all the chaos. It seemed their work was not yet finished.

“Lila?” Adrien asked, “you think Lila has the Butterfly Miraculous?”

“Yes…” Gabriel said, his voice trailing off. “She had become something of a protege to me as Hawk Moth. I can’t prove it but it must have been her.”

“Lila was your protege?” Adrien asked, affronted. “Well I suppose it makes sense that you’d take someone like her under your wing. You’re much better suited to mentor a manipulative, power-hungry liar like her.”

The slight twitch of Gabriel’s eye was the only indication his son’s words hurt.

“Well at least we know who she is. How hard could it be to take her down?” Marinette said, shooting Adrien a worried glance before returning her attention to Master Fu.

“I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as that. The kwamis could sense a change in Nooroo yesterday, and something isn’t quite right. His powers were never meant to be used for evil, and over time it’s affected him.”

“Well, I don’t see how that makes our current situation any different from before. My father used Nooroo for evil for years,” Adrien said.

It had been over four years since Hawk Moth had first declared war on Ladybug and Cat Noir. Tonight, Marinette and Adrien were supposed to be studying for the bac. They were supposed to be deciding to which universities they’d apply. They were supposed to be making plans for the summer. Instead, they were sitting in this shell of a mansion, trying to put their lives back together and figure out how to move forward.

Gabriel’s lips pursed as Adrien continued to speak as if he weren’t present. Master Fu just shook his head.

“It is different now. Gabriel used the Butterfly Miraculous to create villains, but his ultimate goal was not malicious. This new holder, whoever it is, doesn’t have the same… justifiable intentions.”

“So then what next? How does this change what we need to do?” Marinette asked.

“I think it unwise to approach Lila directly until we know more about what’s happening with Nooroo, and until we are certain that Lila is indeed the new Hawk Moth. She hasn’t even akumatized anyone yet.”

“So what? We’re just supposed to wait?” Adrien said, folding his arms across his chest.

Marinette’s brow furrowed, and after a moment of hesitation she placed a comforting hand on Adrien’s leg. He flinched at her touch, and she moved her hand away.

“We’re not going to just wait. There is another book, like the grimoire, containing the histories of the past miraculous users. I believe this book will help me understand what is happening to Nooroo, and how we might be able to help him escape from his new master.”

“Where is the book, Master?” Marinette said.

“It’s been lost for centuries, but I have some good leads,” Master Fu said. “I will need to leave Paris for a time in order to search for it.”

Plagg popped out of Adrien’s shirt, his tiny mouth gaping.

“Are you taking the other miraculouses with you? If you don’t, who will be the next Guardian.”

Master Fu closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

“You are correct, Plagg, we will need another Guardian. The Guardian is chosen not by me, but by the collective will of the miraculouses themselves. I have spoken with the kwamis, and I have read they signs. They all agree that Gabriel Agreste will be the next Guardian.”

Marinette’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped. She turned to Adrien and Gabriel, and found her expression mirrored back at her. The shock had cracked even Gabriel’s measured expression.

“What?! No! How could… how could someone who’s been abusing the power of a miraculous for so long be the Guardian? Why can’t you just stay Guardian? Take the other miraculouses with you, or even just leave them here and keep your position. We can watch after them even if you’re gone,” Adrien said.

“I am old, Adrien. In not too long I will be two hundred years old. Even if I wasn’t leaving Paris, I still know it is time to pass on what I have learned.”

“But… but… why Hawk-m-... Why Gabriel?” Marinette asked.

Master closed his eyes again and let out a deep breath. He opened his eyes and leaned forward, resting a weathered hand on the old phonograph.

“The power of the miraculous works in mysterious ways. It knows things before we know them ourselves. I cannot be certain why the power chose Gabriel, but I suspect it has something to do with his experiences. No one knows better than he, after all, the dangers of misusing a miraculous.”

All eyes turned to Gabriel, whose expression had returned to a calm equilibrium, though his eyes were still open larger than usual. He returned each gaze in turn, ending on his son.

“I… I am willing to do whatever is necessary to fix my mistakes. If that means becoming the Guardian-”

“-No.”

Adrien stood abruptly and looked down on Gabriel with a cold expression.

“No. How can you expect me to continue to be Cat Noir with him leading us?”

“Adrien, I understand how this must make you feel-” Master Fu started.

“No you don’t,” Adrien said shortly, then made his way to the door.

“Son, where are you going? We’re in your room,” Gabriel called after him.

“I don’t care where I’m going as long as it’s away.”

Gabriel got up to go after Adrin, but Marinette stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait, let me. He only just found out about you yesterday.”

Gabriel’s shoulders slumped, and his eyes fell shut in defeat. His head ducked a tiny nod of agreement, and Marinette followed after Adrien.

She found him in the main entrance, sitting on the steps with his head in his hands. Plagg rested on his shoulder, murmuring inaudible words of comfort in his oddly scratchy voice. Marinette gently lowered herself down next to Adrien, close enough that he’d be able to feel her presence, but not touching.

“Well. It’s a lot to take in,” she said eventually.

Adrien didn’t move. With the caution of an art restorer working on a masterpiece, Marinette slowly rested her hand on Adrien’s shoulder. This time he didn’t shake her off.

“I don’t know what comes next, Adrien, but I’ll always be there for you. I promise.”

Adrien tilted his head, his vibrant green eyes looking up at her through his hair.

“Partners?” he said, after a long and painful pause.

“Always.”


	2. Fallout

For the first six weeks after, Adrien stayed at Marinette’s house. It wasn’t his first choice, but Nino had a lot of siblings and Adrien didn’t want to get in the way. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Marinette, or that he didn’t want to be around her. It was just that he’d only just learned that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, and being around her all day made it that much harder to figure out how he felt about it all. Still, if he was going to compare the trauma of finding out Ladybug was Marinette to the trauma of finding out Hawk Moth was his father, dealing with Marinette’s alter ego was much easier.

Marinette and Adrien had kissed shortly before their final confrontation with Hawk Moth. Or rather, Ladybug and Cat Noir had kissed. The difference between those two scenarios was still a little fuzzy in Adrien’s mind, but he knew there was an important distinction to be made. At the time it had felt… life-changing. Wondrous. Miraculous. The girl he’d spent _four years_ pining after had finally returned his feelings, and it made him feel even more invincible than the magic ring on his finger. But now… Now things were different.

It wasn’t as if Adrien didn’t like Marinette. He wasn’t disappointed it was her, didn’t feel like Ladybug had suddenly become an entirely different person or anything like that. But finding out his own father had been terrorizing Paris and physically attacking him for four years didn’t really leave any space in his head to think about Marinette. To think about why she had gone four years constantly rejecting him. To think about why she might have kissed him right before a stressful and climactic confrontation. To think about whether she regretted it or not. To think about why she had liked him as a famous model but not as her dorky friend. It was all just too much, Adrien simply couldn’t bring himself to do the mental and emotional heavy lifting the situation required. So he didn’t.

At least he could be thankful that no akuma attacks took place during those first weeks. Adrien knew that Master Fu was spending time with his father, teaching him about his duties as Guardian, but Adrien didn't know what he would do if they needed to ask Gabriel for help with an akuma attack. The thought of having to rely on his father as Cat Noir almost made him physically ill. While the potential new Hawk Moth remained inactive, Adrien could simply pretend that Master Fu's proposal to train Gabriel as the next Guardian had never happened, and that felt ideal to him.

Those six weeks Adrien slept on the couch in Marinette’s living room, ate three meals a day, went to school, and studied for his exams. Then, school ended, he graduated, and the structure and regimen that had kept him going collapsed. It didn’t help that the last week of school was the same week in which the doctor’s confirmed that his mother was not waking up.

During those six weeks, the only time Adrien saw his father was at the hospital—the only time their eyes met was over the comatose form of Emilie Agreste. For Gabriel, giving up his mission to acquire the Ladybug and Cat Noir miraculouses also meant giving up on his dreams of a sure cure for his wife. After his defeat, Gabriel had Emilie moved to the most luxurious suite money could buy in the hospital and allowed doctors to diagnose her, though he knew the likely conclusion.

“She’s been in this coma for five years, Mr. Agreste. The odds of her waking now are slim.”

Gabriel nodded solemnly at the doctor, while Adrien held his mother’s hand, gaze intent on her face.

“In such cases as these, many families do not wish to needlessly prolong the suffering-”

“-No. No, we will not be removing the ventilator,” Gabriel said in his soft-spoken, cutting way.

“Father,” Adrien said, looking up from his mother for the first time since he’d entered the suite, “Father, do you think mom would have wanted to live like this? It’s been _years_.”

It was the first time Adrien had called Gabriel father since their confrontation. A muscle in Gabriel’s face twitched conspicuously.

“There is still hope. And I can afford to pay for the very best care indefinitely. I will not give up on her.”

Adrien looked away from Gabriel, his green eyes softening as they turned back to his mother.

“I don’t think she would think of it as giving up,” he said, his voice barely audible.

The doctor shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot for a moment, then cleared his throat.

“We will continue treating your wife, Mr. Agreste. If your family makes any new decisions regarding her care, let us know,” the doctor said

“I will, thank you,” Gabriel said.

* * *

That same day, Nathalie Sancouer stepped into the Dupain-Cheng boulangerie for the first time. She stepped confidently up to the counter, ordered a _pain au chocolat_ that Marinette did not believe for one second she would actually consume, and asked Marinette if she could speak with her in private. Looking around the empty bakery, Marinette nodded and moved out from behind the cashier, gesturing for Nathalie to take a seat at one of the tables in the corner. Nathalie sat down, setting the _pain au chocolat_ in front of her then promptly ignoring it. She looked up at Marinette, pushing her glasses further up on her nose.

“You’re planning on attending university in the fall, yes?” Nathalie asked.

Marinette nodded.

“Yes. I was accepted to a great design program right here in Paris.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Marinette waited for Nathalie to continue, shifting awkwardly in her seat under the older woman’s intense gaze.

“As… exciting as I’m sure this program is, I’d like to offer you an alternative.”

Marinette blinked in confusion at Nathalie.

“...What?”

“An internship with Agreste Fashion. I know Gabriel is on hiatus, but you’d still have a chance to work with some of the most talented designers in the industry. A degree is wonderful, but nothing can really replace industry experience.”

Marinette’s eyes bugged out.

“Wh- an internship? With Agreste Fashion? But… what about school? And… Don’t get me wrong, it would be amazing to work with the designers at Agreste Fashion, but so much has happened. I don’t know if I would feel comfortable-”

“-Marinette, you are a talented designer, and we wouldn’t be extending this offer to you if you weren’t, but we were also hoping you’d be able to look after Adrien during the internship.”

She said it as if it explained everything, but Marinette was only growing more and more confused.

“...Why would I be able to look after Adrien?”

Nathalie’s eyebrows rose.

“Oh. He hasn’t told you? Adrien’s not going to university this year.”

Marinette’s eyebrows raised.

“Why? He was so excited.”

Nathalie shrugged her shoulders, her expression unchanging as ever.

“I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask him. Regardless, he will begin modeling full-time next month. Gabriel and I are… concerned. He’s never worked in the industry without our close supervision before. And we are no longer in a position where he would accept any guidance from us.”

“So you want me to spy on him for you?” Marinette asked flatly.

A look of hurt flitted across Nathalie’s face, making her seem human for just that small space of time.

“No, of course not. We’re just worried about him. And we know with everything that’s happened we can’t do much to help him. We only hope that someone with his best interests at heart could stay close to him. That’s all.”

Marinette rubbed her arm self-consciously, studying the floral tile pattern on the floor, though she already knew it by heart.

“I’ll think about it. Can I get back to you?”

“Of course, Marinette. Take your time.”

Marinette nodded, still not looking up from the floor. She nearly jumped out of her seat when Nathalie’s hand landed on her forearm. She looked up, startled both by Nathalie’s touch and the emotional expression on Nathalie’s face.

“We’re worried about him,” Nathalie said.

Marinette felt a surge of empathy towards Nathalie, but it was quickly overshadowed by a strong resurgence of the anger she’d felt towards Nathalie since learning of her involvement in Gabriel Agreste’s reign of terror.

“Well maybe you should have worried about him more when you were trying to kill him,” she snapped.

Hurt distorted Nathalie’s features briefly, but she quickly wiped it away, putting on her professional demeanor like a well-worn coat. She rose from her seat and nodded to Marinette.

“I hope you’ll agree. Let me know,” she said. Then she picked up the _pain au chocolat_ as if she’d just remembered she’d bought it and walked out the door.

* * *

That evening Marinette waited on the couch in her living room until Adrien came home, half-watching a mindless television show while she knit a scarf she planned to give to Alya once winter rolled around. Well after dinnertime Adrien finally made his way up to the Dupain-Cheng residence, and Marinette forced herself not to look up as he trudged towards the couch and collapsed onto the thick cushions.

“What are you watching?” he asked.

Marinette shrugged.

“I dunno. They’re renovating a house or something. It looks worse than before if you ask me, though.”

Adrien winced in exaggerated pain.

“Ouch! Brutal!”

Marinette set her knitting down and laughed.

“What can I say. I can’t just turn the designer off.”

Adrien chuckled along with Marinette for a minute, then let out a deep sigh, sinking further into the couch. Marinette pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins, and chanced a glance over at him.

“Adrien?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not going to school next year?”

Adrien, whose eyes had been closed in blissful relaxation, sat up and looked at Marinette.

“Uh… Yeah. You heard?”

“From Nathalie.”

Silence stretched between them for a moment, then Adrien scratched the back of his neck.

“Sorry. It was a recent thing. I wanted to tell you.”

Hurt rose up in Marinette’s chest, but she scrunched her eyes closed and shook her head, trying to dispel the negative emotions. Adrien’s six-week residence in the Dupain-Cheng home had done little to resolve the issues left unsaid between them. They’d never even really properly discussed how they felt about their identities being revealed, and it was starting to drive Marinette crazy. Still, she knew their takedown of Hawk Moth had been significantly more difficult for Adrien than it had been for her. She simply couldn’t afford to get upset with him right now. She needed to be patient.

It was a strange reversal. Cat Noir might have always followed Ladybug’s lead in battle, but Adrien had always guided Marinette when it came to compassion. Whenever she was sick of Chloe’s attitude, whenever a simple fib would be easier than resolving an issue, whenever she didn’t feel like taking the high road, Adrien was there with a smile and a reminder to be kind. Now she had to remind herself of the many lessons he’d taught her over the years and give him whatever space and empathy he needed. He deserved that much.

Swallowing back her frustration, Marinette forced a smile and reached her hand out to cover Adrien’s on the couch.

“That’s alright. Maybe you can tell me now? Why aren’t you going to school? I thought that’s what you always wanted.”

Adrien shrugged, and his fingers twitched under Marinette’s hand. At least he didn’t move away.

“One of the best modeling agencies in France reached out to me last week, offered me a great contract with great pay. It’s the first time I’ve had any control over my own career, any say about my own schedule.”

“So you said yes?”

Adrien sighed, squirming a bit against the couch cushions.

“It just seems easier this way. University will be so different. I won’t have Nathalie or my father to boss me around. There will be a lot more students than there were in high school. I know I don’t really want to do modeling long-term, but I don’t know what I _do_ want to do. It all just seems too overwhelming, and I don’t think I can deal with it right now. Not after...” Adrien trailed off, gesturing with his hands as if at some large and obvious obstacle floating in the air.

Marinette nodded slowly, trying to convince herself that what he was saying was reasonable. It wasn’t really working, but then again Marinette was aware of just how different Adrien was from her. Their childhoods, the way they saw the world, and the way the world saw them—the contrast between their experiences was sharp.

“Are you going to request a deferral? Or just quit?”

Adrien shrugged again.

“I was just going to quit. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Marinette thrust her head towards him, her mouth a stern line.

“You should defer. There’s no harm in making it easier to start next year, especially if you’re only planning on taking one year off,” she said, emphasizing her point with a waving finger.

Adrien leaned away from her, hands raised in a placating manner.

“Ok, ok,” waving his surrender. He let out a light laugh, and it instantly soothed Marinette’s spirit. It reminded her of the old Adrien.

“So… you’ll do it?” she asked, tone much gentler than before. “You’ll ask for a deferral.”

Adrien didn’t respond right away, which comforted Marinette. It meant whatever answer he gave he truly meant. Eventually, he nodded.

“Yeah. That’s a good idea. Thanks, Marinette.”

They settled back into a comfortable silence, and Marinette’s eyes shifted back to the TV, where the host of the show had moved on to a new house to be gutted and renovated. It seemed fine as it was to Marinette, but she supposed _something_ had to change—otherwise there would be no show.

Her eyes followed the show, but her thoughts stayed trained on Adrien. Adrien, who she’d been in love with for years. Adrien, the boy who showed her more and more each day how imperfect he was—how imperfect her perception of him had been. The more she knew of him, despite his many imperfections, the more she felt like her massive infatuation with him had sold him incredibly short.

She thought back to that incident that neither of them had touched by mutual unspoken agreement. As her relationship with Cat Noir had deepened, Marinette had realized fairly quickly that she had feelings for her partner. She had never taken it very seriously. The barriers between them were too great, the impracticalities of any development in that quarter, along with her obsession with Adrien, made her attraction to Cat Noir easy to ignore. But like a plant abandoned in the far corner of the garden, her affection for him grew without her tending it or even noticing it.

And then that night, they'd defeated the latest akuma, but it had been _so close_. Cat Noir had been hurt badly, and while the miraculous ladybugs had healed his wounds, neither of them could ignore the very real damage that remained.

She’d pulled him to a nearby rooftop, helping him to lean against a chimney while he caught his breath.

_“Are you alright?” she asked, leaning into him and ignoring the first insistent beep of her earrings._

_“I’m alright. Just… give me a minute,” he said, leaning his head back against the brick and closing his eyes._

_His ring chimed out its own warning, and Marinette moved to the other side of the chimney, sitting down and leaning against it so her back was to his._

_“Let’s just detransform here and take a minute. Did you bring any food?” she asked._

_“Yeah,” his voiced wafted from the other side of the chimney._

_A bright light and a rushing sound filled the air, and Marinette forced her eyes forward, not allowing herself to glance behind her. A moment later, her detransformation followed. She fished around in her bag for some cookies for Tikki, and heard Cat Noir’s kwami noisily devour the cheese she could easily smell from the other side of the chimney. A minute later, they were both back in their transformations. Marinette stood and returned to Cat Noir’s side of the chimney. She reached a hand down to him up, but he didn’t take it._

_“Everything OK?” Marinette asked, hating that she was basically asking the same question again and hoping for a different response._

_Cat Noir shook his head no, his head bowed down towards his crossed legs. Marinette sat down next to him, hesitating only a moment before resting her hand on his knee. After a few moments of silence, he spoke._

_“It’s my dad. He’s always been difficult to deal with, but recently it’s been getting worse. And… I think he’s hiding something from me. If it’s what I think it is, it’s big.”_

_Marinette squeezed Cat Noir’s knee and he looked up at her, fear and worry distorting his beautiful green eyes._

_“What secret?”_

_The material of his mask warped as his brow furrowed further._

_“I don’t… I don’t think I should say. At least not until I know more. But I’m just… really scared.”_

_Marinette could see the panic rising in his eyes. With a grimace of determination, she reached out and took both of Cat Noir’s hands in hers._

_“Whatever it is, you know I’m here for you, right?”_

_Cat Noir looked intently at Marinette, the intensity of his gaze almost startling._

_“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”_

_He held her gaze for a long moment, then dropped his eyes, screwing them shut as his head tilted slowly from side to side._

_“I… I know I’m supposed to look after Paris, and I’m happy to do that, but… Someone needs to look after me, right? It should be my father, right? But instead of having someone who can make sure I’m ok, instead of having someone who cares how I am doing… Instead of that I have a father who I’m afraid of.”_

_Marinette’s heart filled with empathy, and the heavy weight of the emotion insisted that something be done to alleviate his pain. Letting go of one of his hands, she moved her hand to cup his cheek, lifting his head to meet her gaze once again._

_“You’re right. Everyone deserves a soft place to land. You… You more than anyone.”_

_Cat Noir let out a choked sob, but he didn’t turn his face from her._

_“I can’t ask you to do that for me. You’ve got enough to handle on your own. And I know that… I know that my feelings for you put you in an awkward position,” he said._

_“Your feelings don’t make me uncomfortable, Chat. At first I just thought you were being silly. Now, it makes me feel… flattered. Happy. Nervous.”_

_A look of confusion passed Cat Noir’s face, and he swallowed thickly._

_“…Nervous?” he asked, a hopeful lilt to his voice._

_Marinette looked into those deep green eyes. The catlike pupils should make him seem less human, more aloof in that manner particular to all felines, but all Marinette could see in them was Chat. His zest for life, his protective instincts, his desire for freedom, his unshakable loyalty, his complete confidence in who he was. This was her partner, and he meant everything to her. She stroked his masked cheek with her thumb, and leaned forward._

_“Yeah, a little nervous. But more than that, you make me happy.”_

_Chat swallowed again, then, as steadily as he could manage, leaned towards Marinette. They met each other halfway, and Marinette pressed her lips to his, tilting her head to the side to avoid collision. She didn’t know much about kissing, but she knew at least that much._

_They kissed, watched over only by the velvet night sky and the tall brick chimney, for a long, blissful moment. This was Marinette’s first kiss (at least the first one she really counted), and she wanted to soak in all the new information. It felt mostly just like skin touching skin, only a little softer, a little wetter, a little closer. She knew there was more, that if they continued it would feel different, but she didn’t think she was ready for that, and this was already enough. She pulled away but remained close enough so that when she opened her eyes, Cat Noir’s green cat-eyes took up almost her entire field of vision. He blinked at her, resembling an owl more than a cat in that moment, and let out a nervous chuckle._

_“My lady,” he said almost reverently._

_“I liked it,” Marinette said quietly, hesitantly._

_He smiled beatifically at her, moving his hands to hold her face._

_“You really are the girl of my dreams.”_

“-I found a new apartment, too.”

Marinette sat up straight, Adrien’s voice bringing her back to the present.

“What?” she asked, alarmed.

“I got my signing bonus for signing with the agency, so I used it to get my own place.”

Marinette shook her head, trying to bring herself fully back to the present. The difference between Adrien now and the boy she’d just been remembering was jarring, and his news left her feeling even more unmoored. She’d known Adrien wouldn’t just keep on living on her parent’s couch forever, but… did all of these changes have to get announced at once?

“Oh... What neighborhood is it in?”

“It’s not far from here. I’d still be able to come visit you all the time. We can still hang out. Unless… I guess you might move out for university. What are you planning?”

“I was going to get a place with Alya, but that might not work out.”

“Wait really? You can’t get student housing or something?”

Marinette’s mind worked frantically to find an explanation just vague enough to satisfy his curiosity. She didn’t particularly want to explain Nathalie’s internship offer at that moment, especially since she hadn’t decided yet what she was going to do about it.

“No, it’s not that. We just haven’t figured it all out yet.”

“Oh, ok,” Adrien said. He scooted closer to Marinette and looked up at her with a smile. “I hope you don’t end up somewhere too far away.”

“Me too,” Marinetee responded, returning the smile.

They finished watching the show more out of obligation than genuine interest, then Marinette said goodnight and climbed the stairs up to her room while Adrien tucked his sheets into the couch cushions for the night. As Marinette got ready for bed, she considered Nathalie’s offer. By the time she turned off her light and snuggled into her cat pillow, she’d made her decision.


End file.
